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@dlearl476 posted:

...I started calling my Spyder "the rainmaker" the first two years I had it out here. It seems every time I drove it, clouds would appear from nowhere and at least sprinkle on me before I made it home...



The thing is, weather gods have a very low tolerance for hubris.

They don't ask much - only that we acknowledge their presence and standing. If they threaten with clouds or overcast, do the right thing and show them some respect. At the very least, throw an umbrella in the car.

Most of us with Speedsters recognize this and equip our cars with so-called ' tops' - not because they do any good keeping rain out, but as a nod to our place in the hierarchy.

I just don't understand the cavalier Spyder owner who blithely drives about - even far from home - without any semblance of weather countermeasures. The deities will suffer occasional oversight, but not habitual transgressions. If you drive a topless Spyder for years, thinking you can outwit the higher powers of the universe, you are the architect of your own demise:



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@Sacto Mitch,

As you know (given your keen powers of observation), the human male is a peculiar specimen. He is born like Jacob, prone to wrestling with God himself.

He mythologizes the soldier of the lost cause, the lone man rising in opposition to unstoppable forces, the man shaking his fist at God. He imagines this heroic.

It is the instinct of the downtrodden. Fans of Cleveland sports have it in their bones.

It is woven into the psyche of entire nations: of Serbia and Poland and Ireland-- the idea that the mere act of standing erect in the face of crushing opposition is victory in and of itself. Actual (as opposed to psychological) victory is not really hoped for-- indeed, defeat is so woven into the fabric of folklore that should the lone warrior somehow find himself to be the last man standing in a field of smoke and rubble, there would be no plan regarding what to actually do. To fight and lose is the stuff of valor. Victory is unimagined and unplanned for.

Spyder guys are a lot like that.

Last edited by Stan Galat

I decided the best place to mount the oil cooler is the bottom of the Frunk. The nose on the Puma is long and this is what makes up a fairly large trunk area. I cut 5 holes under the cooler which can't be seen unless the car is in the air or you are laying on the ground. The air will enter through the holes in the trunk bottom and back out through a 6" diameter hole in the back wall the the trunk directly behind the cooler. I plan to plumb and wire the cooler tonight. I also balanced the carbs last night and I was happy with a 900rpm idle and the ruppety rump of the new hot cam. .500" lift 300 deg. duration on the intake and 507" lift 310 duration exhaust with a 106 deg lobe separation. If all goes well I will be test driving the beast this weekend.

Type 4 Puma oil cooler mounting 1Type 4 Puma oil cooler mounting 2

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  • Type 4 Puma oil cooler mounting 1
  • Type 4 Puma oil cooler mounting 2

Thank you for the input but I think the hole size and number should be plenty to let in enough cool fresh air. The cooler has 1.5" of clearance from the bottom of the trunk floor and each hole is 3" diameter making a total of 35 squares inches of area to let in cool air. The trunk already had plenty of areas letting in fresh air so I almost thought about trying it without any added holes, so I am fairly confident that the holes will be plenty enough. Regardless, if the size of the holes aren't enough once the hot months arrive I have the ability to add more holes but I would bet what I have will be plenty, however I have been wrong before.

I took the Puma for the first drive today. I needed fuel so I drove it to the gas station and back about a 5 mile round trip. The oil temp needle barely moved and the oil cooler bypass loop was only warm to the touch and this is without an oil cooler hooked up. It is 24 degrees out so that has something to do with it. The car really has power now, I didn't really get on it but it still felt much stronger than the pre-repair engine had on tap. 

I took the night off working on the Type 4 Puma and plan on hitting it hard tomorrow night to finish up the oil cooler install. Then I can drive the wheels off of this thing.

I was wondering why a heater core with blower fan can't be used as an oil cooler so the engine oil heat could be used to heat the interior of the car? Makes sense to me. I would love to hear the gangs knowledge on this one.

Jimmy....I didn't know those holes were 3" !  That's good ! I sorta knew you would have thought about that.   Your whole project is really interesting to me. I've never worked on a type 4 so I'm paying attention.

I've always thought that VW missed an opportunity to produce a great new motor when they came out with the type 4. I think it was a mediocre improvement on a Type 1 and 3 and could have been better. My comparison is the Suby EJ 25

However, you certainly have demonstrated that a Type 4 can be a monster motor !!

I Salute you.............Bruce

Robert M......You mentioned Manometer !   I had mine out and was using it at a local Dive Shop to check the calibration of their "Magnehelic Vacuum Gauge" used to test and check the cracking resistance of inhalation effort of a second stage on SCUBA regulators. Later this week I will switch it from Water over to Mercury to check a couple of their pressure gauges.  Kind of fun..................Bruce

@Jimmy V. posted:

I took the night off working on the Type 4 Puma and plan on hitting it hard tomorrow night to finish up the oil cooler install. Then I can drive the wheels off of this thing.

I was wondering why a heater core with blower fan can't be used as an oil cooler so the engine oil heat could be used to heat the interior of the car? Makes sense to me. I would love to hear the gangs knowledge on this one.

Seems like it would work great although it might not be the best plan in the summer.  

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@Jimmy V. posted:


...I was wondering why a heater core with blower fan can't be used as an oil cooler so the engine oil heat could be used to heat the interior of the car? ...

Two problems come to mind.

First, in cold weather (when you most want heat), the oil in these engines takes quite a while to come up to temperature (and thus, produce any usable cabin heat). The problem is only worse (in terms of cabin heat) if you use a Mocal sandwich to help the engine warm up quicker (no cabin heat at all until the sandwich thermostat opens).

The heater boxes usually used for heat in an air-cooled engine of course use heat from the exhaust system, which is available pretty much from start-up.

And two, in the summer, when you don't want cabin heat, you're pretty much stuck with it if you want to cool the oil.

The second problem might be solvable if you could find a way to dump the cabin heat before it reaches the cabin, but you'd have to keep air flowing around the cooler if it's going to cool the oil.

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Everybody thinks that but, yes, they are safe.  I have an Eberspacher BN2.  It puts out up to 18,000 BTU which is more than enough to make a 356/550 toasty.  It offered one heat output level and they typically go for upwards of $100 on eBay but you must know a bit about them to know what you're getting.  Parts are available, some from Pavel in Poland and others from Asia but the original fuel delivery system has become Unobtanium.  Fortunately, I have a modern solution to that which works excellently with new parts readily available (new fuel pump and associated controllers).  I have not seen BN2s that run on Diesel.

Danny has a more modern Webasto(?) gas heater with variable heat output and some nice bells and whistles.  It is physically slightly smaller than my BN2, and puts out about the same amount of heat.  Typically, they're used to heat tractor trailer sleeper cabs so heating a 356 is easy.  They run on gasoline or diesel.  I think the real (not Asian knock-off) versions go for around $1,200 complete.

I tucked mine down in the nose area next to the battery.  It pulls fresh air in from just ahead of the wheel well:

final install

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  • final install
Last edited by Gordon Nichols
@Jimmy V. posted:

That makes sense. I may look into a gas heater sometime in the future. The frunk has a ton of space so that won't be an issue. I assume they have made the heaters safe since it will be burning gas and strapped to a 12 gallon gas tank. Seems counterintuitive to me.

They were originally mounted right next to the fuel tanks in VWs. They are very safe, IF they are properly maintained, as in cleaned and in good running order. All wiring and hoses must be in good shape of course. The mechanical safeties are adequate, and there is a fuse that pops if too much current is being drawn. The flame is inside a double-walled stainless steel firebox, and then there is the thick outer casing around that. If you ever take one apart, they're quite elegant. And safe.

Gordon, the heaters are almost 8000 Btu, not 18,000, the heater says 2000 kcal/h right on it. Do the conversion.

I think my modern Webasto Airtop2000 was around 700-750 with shipping from the Czech Republic. It has all electronic controls and works perfectly every time I turn it on. It won't turn on unless it's below 60F out though.

It's been a long time coming but I am grinning ear to ear tonight!. I finished up plumbing the oil cooler and wiring the fan and thermostat switch. I filled the oil cooler and lines It took over 3 quarts to fill the Derale oil cooler and the 30' of 1/2" ID oil line that it took to plumb the cooler. I fired the engine up and let it warm up while looking for possible leaks and also checking the oil level as the cooler started to get oil flow. I left off the Setrab oil thermostat for now. It will be installed tomorrow now that I know the cooler and lines are full and flowing oil. I took the Puma for a 30 minute ride and the oil temp never reached 180 to turn the fan on but it did a great job keeping the oil cool without the fan. The real reason for the big smile. I wanted to see what this thing could do. I did a mild clutch drop from stand still and then rolled into the throttle, man oh man this freaking thing has power. The tires where spinning as the car is moving forward up the road sideways, as I went to 2nd gear the car straightened out as I lifted to shift but tires started spinning the second the throttle was opened up again, on  into 3rd gear tires still spinning and car kicking sideways, no sign that the tires were going to grab before redline was hit so I let up and let out a OOOHH Hell YESSS!!!!!. Finally the pay off for all the hard work, money and waiting. This engine is a true Monster and one scary ride. The engine feels like it has more that double maybe triple what it had before the compression leak was fixed and the the cam change. I think this cam is the perfect choice for this set up. Man it is nice when it finally comes together. I can safely say this is the most powerful air cooled engine I have ever driven. What a blast this thing is going to be to drive. I wish I had someone to film the 100 yard burn out I just did LoL.. I may need stickier tires.

PS. This is the oil cooler I have, it is the one the guys at CB Performance recommended for my build and promised it would be enough. They also recommended the Weber carb update kit that really makes the 44 IDF's into something much more. The secondary venturi is removed for a spray bar and the choke is enlarged to a 38mm. They told me the kit was designed for big displacement engines just like my build.

Derale Oil coolerWeber update kit

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  • Derale Oil cooler
  • Weber update kit
Last edited by Jimmy V.
@Jimmy V. posted:


The car really has power now, I didn't really get on it but it still felt much stronger than the pre-repair engine had on tap.

@Stan Galat posted:

2.8 L and a big cam will do that. Holy-freaking-cow, what a mill.



Yeah, displacement is everything.  Glad it's running so well, Jimmy.  An engine that size doesn't need a torque monster cam- it makes enough power down low to break most VW transaxles on it's own. What size tubing was the header built with?

The header has 1.75" tubing and it doesn't help much to go larger because the exhaust ports can't be made very large. That is one reason the split duration and lift cam that I used is a popular choice for big Type 4 builds.

Type 4 2.8 L monster ready to install

Web Cam Type 4 Camshaft, 86B/86C Grind, 00-662 is designed for Type 4 engines, and it's specs are (In/Ex) .500/.507" Valve Lift with stock 1.3:1 Rockers, 300/310 degrees of advertised duration, and 260/272 degrees of duration at .050". This is an outstanding Type 4 camshaft, longer exhaust duration to aid with the pitiful Type 4 exhaust port! This has a fantastic midrange and top end, and is one of Web Cams best Type 4 grinds for big engines, with a powerband from 3500 to 7000 RPMs, the more headwork and carburetion the better the top end will be.

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  • Type 4  2.8 L  monster ready to install
Last edited by Jimmy V.

Looking forward to your updates! I have the first portion of your split grind cam (86b) in a Type 1 2276 running 44 Webers and only 1.25 rockers but with a narrow LSA of 105 degrees and it is perfect for the street in my Vintage Speedster. I can drive around town in third gear (not that I wanted to even though I could). What are you running for LSA? What is the curb weight of your Puma? That is way way too too much power

The LSA of my cam is 106 which I feel is perfect. Webcam made it up special and suggested the LSA based on my engines build specs and weight of car which is approx. 1850lbs.The factory specs. for this model say it weighs 1720lbs. the type 4 adds some additional weight bringing it up to 1850lbs, add me it the car and we arrive at a total weight of 2080lbs. I plan to take the car to the to the local farm Co-op scales soon to see what the actual weight is. At the 2080lb. weight and if I have 240hp at the crank the est. quarter mile time is 12.8 seconds. which isn't too shabby. I think it may be faster than that.. we will have to see.

Last edited by Jimmy V.

Jim:  I had that same horizontal discharge tube setup on my 40 Dells and yes, it probably adds another 20-30 HP on a 2,110.  Maybe a tad more on your engine.  IIRC, my kit came with a set of 34mm venturiis (chokes) which were downgraded to 32s by Dave at Blackline Racing for me - he also converted them back to stock discharge tubes.  I had a slight, nagging bog as I transitioned to more throttle in the mid-range and managed to make it a bit better by doing all the wrong things (never suspecting the venturiis were wrong).  Going down one size to the 32 was a vast improvement, so remember that if you have mid-range hesitation and can't easily cure it.  Apart from that, they really produce power, especially on the mains.  If I were tracking my car I would still have those discharge tubes in there.

I also have that same DeRale cooler on my 2,110 and it has been great.  Not the most compact, but it is rugged, reasonably quiet when running the fan and holds me to 200-205F no matter what.

Glad you got that beast running and how well it's turned out.  Lotta work but the endgame payoff is really something!

Sounds like the perfect LSA. As pointed out earlier, you have enough displacement already for all the low end power you will ever need. Hell, you are going to need bigger and more sticky tires now. When I got my '69 912 new suspension I had it corner balanced and with me in the car the total weight was 2237 lbs. I got a motor from a dune buggy reworked for the street the T1 2276 with the webcam 86b and was going to use the T1 as temp motor for the 912 while I decided what to do with the original 912 engine. But in hind site, I should have went T4. That T1 motor ended up in my garage and my wife kept tripping over it trying to get to things - even though the motor was on the side of the garaged and tucked away. So I found a home for the T1 by buying a Speedster. Long story short, I should have built a T4 like yours from the start for my 912 Renegade build. John Willhoit offers a 912 2.2 build and the kit alone starts at $16K. But we aren't talking Porsche, sorry I digress. If I didn't already commit to a full rebuild of my 912 616 motor, I would have been a player for your engine.

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